First group of child refugees from Calais arrive in Britain

The first group of unaccompanied children from the Calais “Jungle” have travelled to Britain for resettlement with relatives and more are to follow this week before the camp is closed, officials said on Sunday.

“Five Syrian minors and one Afghan travelled to the United Kingdom on Saturday,” an official at the Calais Prefecture said. “Another 10 children are to follow on Monday, and 10 more on Tuesday.” The departures come as British and French officials register unaccompanied minors eligible to join family members in the UK before the “Jungle” migrants’ camp is cleared and demolished.

Bulldozers could roll in as early as October 24 but charities have mounted a legal challenge, arguing that the demolition is illegal until sufficient alternative accommodation has been provided for up to 10,000 migrants estimated to be living there, especially for about 1,200 children at the camp.

According to the British Red Cross, 178 unaccompanied children have been identified as being entitled to claim asylum in Britain because of family links.

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, estimates that about 300 children at the Jungle are eligible to be settled in Britain.

British authorities are required to arrange for the transport of those with relatives in Britain and to make provision for their support.

Vulnerable children without relatives in Britain but who could be admitted on humanitarian grounds are also being registered and their cases considered separately.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, has said Britain is keen to bring as many eligible children as possible to Britain before the “Jungle” camp is razed.

Construction of a new UK-funded wall designed to stop migrants reaching the port of Calais is under way. The first 13ft-high concrete blocks were put in place on Saturday after the foundations were laid in September. The wall, to cost more than £2 million, is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

Calais authorities maintain there are now only about 6,000 people in the sprawling shanty town, which would represent a substantial decrease in recent weeks.

A Prefecture official said police last week counted 5,684 migrants in a “precise, exhaustive and visual survey”. However, the official added that another tally, based on statements by camp residents in order to include those not present when police counted the migrants, led to the conclusion that 6,486 people were living there.

Charities insist that the figures are too low but volunteers acknowledged that migrants have been leaving the camp each day, some for reception centres elsewhere in France, others for unknown destinations.

Some have tried to cross the Channel. Dozens have been intercepted trying to board lorries bound for Britain and four were arrested after being found trying to cross in a dinghy.

A policeman was injured in the knee in a clash between migrants and security forces on the main road to Calais port on Saturday night, an official said.

“About 300 migrants tried to block the road and police intervened to push them back,” the official said. Police fired tear gas to disperse the migrants and one officer was hit in the knee by an object thrown from the crowd.

The port road has become a virtual no-go area at night because of increasingly desperate and violent attempts by migrants to slow or stop traffic so they can climb aboard lorries or other vehicles.